Panama City and most of Panama's Caribbean coast. In the English-speaking Caribbean, the drink, called sorrel, is made from the calyces, and it is considered an integral part of Christmas celebrations. The Caribbean Development Company, a Trinidad and Tobago brewery, produces a Sorrel Shandy in which the tea is combined with beer. In American soul food cuisine, hibiscus tea is included in a category of "red drinks" associated with West Africa and is commonly served in soul food restaurants and at African-American social events. Southeast Asia In Thailand, most commonly, roselle is prepared as a cold beverage, heavily sweetened and poured over ice, similar to sweetened fruit juices. Plastic bags filled with ice and sweetened 'grajeab' can be found outside of most schools and in local markets. It is less commonly made into a wine, sometimes combined with Chinese tea leaves, in the ratio of 4:1 by weight (1/5 Chinese tea). The beverage is consumed in Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia as well. Europe In Italy, hibiscus tea, known as carcadè or karkadè (from the Arab word كَرْكَديه‎ [karkaˈdeː]), is usually consumed hot, often with the addition of sugar and lemon juice. First introduced from Eritrea, it was widely used as a tea substitute when the country was hit by trade sanctions for its invasion of Abyssinia. In other European countries, it is often as an ingredient in mixed herbal teas, (especially with malva flowers or rose hips in the mix, to enhance colouring), and as such, more commonly used than recognized. Research Reviews have concluded that hibiscus tea consumption appears to modestly lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. Hibiscus tea was generally well tolerated, and did not adversely affect liver or kidney function at lower doses, but may be hepatotoxic at high doses. References Further reading Information about Roselle by J. Morton (1987), part of the New Crop Resource Online Program at Purdue University Aguas frescas Barbadian cuisine Mexican drinks Diabetes Hypertension Arabic drinks African drinks Italian drinks Jamaican cuisine Caribbean drinks Panamanian cuisine National dishes Flower tea Egyptian cuisine Thai drinks Malay cuisine Cambodian drinks Indonesian cuisine Hibiscus